As a nonpartisan diversion from this fall’s sad political spectacle, I humbly offer a rancor-free crossword puzzle: an opportunity to fiddle while our country burns. Enjoy it, but don’t get too comfortable. There’s a small but nonzero chance we all wake up five weeks and two days from today in a frightening, bad reality show of a country.

Okay, enough doom and gloom already. The puzzle really is politics-free. It is Simpsons-free too, though at least one answer may evoke the image at right.

The Across Lite program can be downloaded for free at Litsoft.com and runs on Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X. I can recommend it unreservedly. It is easy to install and use, and is free of any of the malware garbage that commonly plagues freeware. [^]